Softball: Hutt Valley strike back

Defending champions Hutt Valley bounced back yesterday from Wednesday night's loss to Auckland to score a 7-0 win over Counties at the New Zealand men's interprovincial softball championships in Auckland.

Steve Deans hit two doubles in the match while veteran Darryl Marino hit a triple and a double.

Hutt City United's Shane Doherty was the winning pitcher.

Hutt later went on to down the Junior Black Sox 4-1.

The wins leave them with a three-win, one-loss record from their first four matches.

Wellington made it four wins from four games when they beat Canterbury 6-2 and North Harbour 2-0 (Marty Grant striking out 17 of the 23 batters he faced), Canterbury beat the New Zealand Defence Forces team 4-2, and the Junior Black Sox downed Western Bay of Plenty 17-0.

The Harbour batters managed just two hits against Wellington.

Counties scored their first win in beating Western Bay of Plenty 10-0.